„Adampol Forests” (Lasy Adampola) is an educational forest trail of the Włodawa Forestry of the State Forests of Poland. It starts near the Zamoyski hunting palace in the village of Adampol, 6 km west of Włodawa, and runs in a loop through the forests of the Dobropol forestry. According to the State Forests portal, the length is about 4.1 km, which is the same as our track (the forestry website indicates 6 km). At a leisurely pace, it takes an hour to an hour and a half.
Zamoyski Hunting Palace
The palace was built in 1923–1928 on the site of a forester's lodge commissioned by Konstanty Zamoyski, after the ancestral residence in Różanka was destroyed in World War I. The building is eclectic, with a semi-circular portico on high columns and towers with onion domes. Details from the destroyed palace in Różanka were moved into the interiors: thirteen early 18th-century Corinthian capitals, a plaque with the date 1716, a fireplace from 1836, and two medieval stained-glass windows in the chapel. From 1939 the estate was managed by the Germans, and in 1942 the family was evicted. After the war, the palace passed to the state and served as a anti-tuberculosis sanatorium for many years. The complex is entered in the register of monuments of the Lublin Voivodeship.
Hunting History in the Forest
Along the trail, foresters have placed boards about forest cultivation, the life of forest animals, and how lichens are used to assess air purity. But the most interesting thing here is the traces of the estate's hunting past. Near the palace stands a figure of the Mother of God, moved from the palace park in Różanka. In the forest lies a glacial erratic — a monument of inanimate nature with an inscription from 1903 in honor of a successful deer hunt. Another stone monument, from 1905, commemorates how two wild boars were taken with a hunting hanger.
A Page of War
During the German occupation, a forced labor camp for Jews operated in Adampol, connected with the Sobibór death camp. The prisoners drained swamps and felled timber, and the camp administration was located in the palace. Hundreds of people died here. Near the entrance to the estate stands a monument to the murdered Jews, and nearby is a memorial to the victims of German crimes. This is a place of remembrance, so behave accordingly here.
How to Get There
Adampol lies along road 818 from Włodawa to Wyryki. From Lublin or Chełm, first take a bus to Włodawa, and from there it is 6 km by car, bicycle, or on foot. You can leave your car near the palace complex. The trail is open all year round, admission is free, and dogs are allowed (on a leash). From May to September, there are many mosquitoes and ticks in the forest: take a repellent and closed clothing. It is about 5 km to the border with Belarus here. The border is closed, and the Polish Border Guard may check documents on the borderland roads. For Ukrainians, this is Poland — a foreign passport is required. The trail can easily be combined with a walk around Włodawa on the same day.